Improvement in sewing-machines



J. E. A. GIBBS. l SEWING MACHINE.

No. 28,851. Patented June 26, 1860.

[nz/'cular UNITED Startins- PATENT OFFICE.

AIMPnovl-:Mi-:m- IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification formingpart or' Letters Patent No. 28.851. dated June 26,1560.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that 1,'JAME'S E. A. GIBBS, of

Mill Point, in the county of Pocahontas and State of Virginia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and Ido hereby declarethat tlie following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figures 1 and 2are vertical sections, at right angles to each other, of asewing-machinewith my improvements; Figs. 3' and 4 represent the needle and thedevices operating in con-- nection with it to produce the stitch atdifferent stages of their operation. Fig. 5 is aperspective viewof thethread g'uard or guide on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 represents thestitch made by the machine.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severaligures.

My invention consists in constructing a rotating looper and a stationarythread guard or guide, and so arranging the same in combina tion withthe needle of a sewing-machine that the combination of the needlelooperand guard or guide produces the single-thread interloopedv stitch whichconstitutes the subject of Letters Patent granted to James S. McCurdy,May 10, 1859.

It also consists in tne employment, in coinbination with` a rotatinglooper, of a stationary thread guard or guide applied, substantially ashereinaer described, to assist in spreading the loops; and it furtherconsists in the employment, in combination with a rotating looper, of astationary looper-guard so applied as to prevent the point of the loopercatching the loop which is being drawn up to the cloth or other materialbeing sewed.

` To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the bed of the machine. B is the stationary arm which holds thepresser' C. D is the needle-arm which carries the eye-pointed needle a,attached to a rock-shaft, D', arranged between centers b b above thebed. E is the main shaft of the machine, arranged horizontally below thebed in suitable fixed bearings, kwith its axis parallel with the planeof oscillation of the needlearm, carrying a crank, F,

for driving the needle-arm,4 and two cams, G H, for` operating thefeed-bar I, which feeds in the direction of the arrow shown near thecloth in Fig. 2. These parts, -being similar in all essentialparticulars to the corresponding parts of many other sewing-machines,need no particular description.

J is the rotating looper, secured to the cud of the main shaft E. It iscomposed of a tapering hook, c, with a broad heel, d, the hook startingfrom the axis of the shaftand curving outward gradually therefrom, asshown in Fig. 2, till it begins to assume the form of an arcA concentricwith the shaft, which form is continued to the point, and the heelprojecting 'from the shaft in the opposite direction to the hook, butbeing eun'ved slightly away from .the shaft in a similar directionrelatively to the revolution thereof. The width of the hook in adirection parallel with the axis of the shaft increases gradually fromthe point to the rounded stem e, which attaches the looper to the shaft,suchstem being concentric with the shaft, and the heel, commencing atthe widest part of the hook, is rounded o' on the outer side, as shownat f, Figs. 1 and 4. The looper is so arranged relatively to the pat-liof the needle and its movement so timed relatively to the movement ofthe needle that after the descent of the needle through the materialbeing sewed and'through the bed the point of the ho'ok of the looperpasses close to that side of the needle which faces the end of the shaftE. '.llhe point of the looper in its revolution passes the needle in theopposite direction to `that'in which the feed movement of the clothtakes place.

.K is the stationary thread-guard, consisting of a small thick plate orblock of metal,

secured by a screw, I, to the under side of the movable plate L, whichconstitutes a part of the bed A. This guard is arranged-on the oppositeside'of the path of the needle to that on which the looper rotates. Theend of this guard, which 4is toward the needle, contains a groove, g,Fig. 5, in which the needle works, and from this groove there extends onthat side of the path of the needle toward which the feed movement takesplace a small roundpointed tongue, h, in which there is a shallowrecess, 1;, and on the same side of the .plate there is a deeper recess,j, and all that part 2 assai of the guard which is near the path of thel needle is cut away at the top to leave a conduring a portion of therevolution, arriving" in contact with it shortly atterpassing, theneedle.

The operation of forming the stitch is as follows: The needle havingpassed down through the cloth with the thread,which is represented, inred color, double, and having commenced to rise, the friction of thegroove `g of the guard or guide K against the thread on its side of theneedle causes 'the threadto be thrown ont loosely from the needle on theop# posite side in the forni of aloop, and the point of the looper,coming round to the needlcasit is rising, passes into thesaid loopandextends it,whi1e the needle continues to move upward, and during thefirst part of its next descent the full extension of the loop takingplace when the point of the looper has Jnade rather more than halt' arevolution past the needle, and the point of the needle has againentered the cloth. The continued movement of the looper draws one sideof the loop into the deep recess j ofthe guard or guide K, and the incliuation of the said recess and tongue causes the neck or. throat ofthe loop to;be spread out wide, as shown in Fig. 1, that .the needle inits continued descent'inay pass into it without difficulty, the feedmovelnent having before this time drawn the loop into a favorableslanting position for the needle to enter it. After the needle hasentered the groove g, and thc loop is thereby prevented slipping overits point, the continued revolution of the looper draws the one side ofthe loop out of the re-` cess j toward the point of the tongue h of theguard or guide J till it is temporarily arrested by-coming intothesmaller recess, i, and the other side of the loop is caused to slideover the rounded heel of the looper toward 'or into the'recess j. -Theloop has now received a half turn or twist, and the position of its twosides are now the reverse of what' they were when the needle entered it,one crossing the other close to the needle, as shown 'in Fig. Il, and inthis position they remain until the point of the looper has again passedthe needle and caught thenew loop which has been thrown l out of theneedle by the upward movement of the latter, which has -now commenced.The looper now draws thenew loop through the \old one below wherethecros'sin'g of its sides has taken place, as illustrated in Fig.- 5,and the old one now slips o' the looper and is draw-n up tight to thecloth by the exten sion ofthe lnew one.l

By the above operation of givinga halt turn or twist to the loop andtaking the new loop through it' afterA such twist each loop is made topass twice through its predecessor -viz it is carried through first bythe needle before the twist or crossing of Kits sides takes place, andthen again by the looper after the twist or crossing of its sides hastaken place, thus passing once through the loop on each side of itstwist, and bythis means each loop is caused to be encircled by a coil ofthe thread of thepreceding loop, as shown at n a in Fig.

6, which represents the thread' removed from,

a seam. 011e of these coils n is shown loose in Fig. 6 for betterexplanation.

The looper-guard M contributes in a great degree to theV successfulperformance of the above-described operation, for in working rapidlythe. old loops, as they slip off the looper, are liable to ily out tosuch a position that if it were not for the said guardthey would becaught again by its point; but the guard, being placed in the positionwhere this catching would occur, eectually prevents such accident.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is'

1'. So constructing-a rotating looper and a stationary thread guard orguide and applying the same iu combination .with the needle of asewing-machine as to effect the twisting of the loop and the passage ofeach loop twice through its predecessor, substantially as hereindescribed, for the production of the stitch' herein specified.

2. The employment ofv a stationary thread guard or guide in combinationwith a rotating` looper for the purpose of Yspreading the loops tofacilitate tlie entrance of the n dle thereinto, substantially as hereinspecific h 3. The stationary guard M, j'applied in combination with arotating looper, substantially as described, to prevent the looperentering the loop which is being drawn up toward the cloth. Y

JAMES E. A. eIBBs.

Witnesses:

M. M. Livmcsros. B. Gnzouxr..

